Waiting and Watching
by xXMiss.BrightSideXx
Summary: A peek into the minds of the Newt, Queenie, Tina and Jacob as they yearn.


He finds himself thinking of her often. When he's feeding his creatures, he'll realize too late that he has already turned to look at her reaction to the ever-amazing animals in front of him, only to stare into the empty air. Then, he'll remember that she's in New York, solving cases, probably having forgotten all about him. Well, maybe not forgotten, but surely not as distracted as he is. They exchange owls with moderate regularity, as he is still travelling over the world, though he tries to stop by every couple of months. It's been a long time since he had a friend and he wants to keep her.

His book was a success, and he is called in more and more to help with beasts that no one could or would bother to control, as the war rages on. He sometimes thinks back to the accidental lie that he had told Tina when he left her the first time. Newt Scamander and a quiet life are antonyms through and through, but he probably should have realized that a long time ago.

He's in the middle of a forest in the steppes of Asia, sitting at the counter, eating dinner while pretending to read some medical book. There is not really any quiet in his life, at least not in the most conventional sense. But at the end of the night, after all his animals have been fed and then he starts to feed himself, he likes to think that this is an unwinding period and his thoughts inevitably turn to the woman he still thinks about every day.

And then, he wonders how Tina would like living like this. Would she be ok constantly moving around? Constantly putting her life in danger to protect the lives of the misunderstood beasts he's still trying to catalogue? Newt pauses and assures himself that if she _were_ with him, then he'd protect her like he protects the animals he cares for.

Of course, he cares for her much differently than the creatures and he is well aware that she is more than capable of helping herself as well, it's just that he'd rather her not be in the situation at all, but then he also wouldn't want her hidden away because she'd be bored and even just trying to follow that line of thinking is too complicated for him, most times; leaving him a blushing, stuttering mess even in the comfort and privacy of his suitcase when all the paths that their life could take play out in his mind.

Because then there's the matter that if she did come with him, there is only one bed and where children would go and then he's stopping that train of thought right there. There is a reason he likes to work with animals more than humans, even if Tina is different. With a sigh, he puts down the book that perpetually stays on page 374, to prepare for bed. Tomorrow he has to go search for a tribe of wizards that are rumored to be illegally trading some very rare beasts. Tina, and all the complications she brings to his thoughts, will just have to keep waiting.

/

She likes to go to his bakery. Even in his mind, he isn't really sure where his fantastic beasts come from. He just has images impressed upon him that not even the poison that obliviated everyone else could erase. It gives her hope that maybe the longer she visits his shop, the more likely it would be that he would remember _her_.

Queenie isn't really vain. She can read minds, so she knows she is pretty, to be sure; the envy of all women, except her lovely sister most of the time, and the lustful conquest of all men, except the select few like Newt, who has his mind full of other things besides her chest. It is something she has come to accept and use to her advantage many times over the course of her life. But no one really seems to want to know her, to talk to her, besides Teenie.

Jacob is lovely, really he is because he is different than that. And she loves to read his mind because yes, admittedly, he still looks at her body. But, he stares at her eyes, wondering if he has seen her before and if he asks her on a date, would she say yes. She can't very well tell him that yes, she would absolutely love to go on a date - not without explaining that she was reading his mind - but it still left her feeling warm and fuzzy when she thinks about him.

He wants to know more than just what her body looks like under his. She can read it like she is reading her favorite book, one that continues to surprise and delight her. He wants to know her thoughts, know what she thinks of his bakery and which of his treats she likes the most. He wants to know how she grew up and what _she_ is thinking. He wants to know how to make her happy, if he ever got the courage to ask to court her. It is spectacular, truly, to see his honest affection for her.

So until he works up the courage to speak to her, Queenie decides she'll continue to drop by the bakery for conversation and the most delicious rolls in the world, because she's in this for the long haul and there's no one else who could possibly make her as happy as he does. She'll say hello to his grandmother and watch the way he watches her.

/

She is early to the meeting, thankfully, unlike the last few that have been scheduled. The past couple of weeks have been insanely busy, hectic in ways that leave her exhausted physically and mentally when she finally arrives home in the dead of the night. Being reinstated can only be a good thing, she reminds herself for the umpteenth time that day. It means that she and Queenie have a good, stable income. It means that she's doing good work to protect people. It means she can't follow Newt to England and beyond, chasing after what is clearly going to be a forever dream.

The magizoologist keeps up correspondence with her, but they never see each other as much as she really wants to. She thinks about him constantly. She always expects to see him at her kitchen table, or in the town causing mayhem as he inadvertently tends to do, every time he's here. Queenie's finally stopped bringing it up every time she thinks of Newt. It makes her heart heavy with longing, but she can't sit around and wait for him forever.

Not that she's actually got time to do anything more than exchange owls with someone. She loves her job, really she does. It's just that, since she got reinstated, no one's been able to treat her the same. She'd always been the odd one out, with a strong sense of heart and passion that tends to overwhelm the people around her.

Of course, with the war reaching an all-time high, more and more people are signing up, or, more likely, getting drafted to fight against the evils of the world. Grindelwald had escaped a few months ago from their cells and has since promoted a war of terror on the muggles. However, along that same vein, the muggles themselves have just finished their own war of worldwide proportions.

Tina sighs in the still quiet room. It is too quiet, even though shortly it will be filled with Aurors waiting to be briefed. Once again, she vaguely wonders what Newt is doing right now. Did he find that tribe in Asia that he told her about? She hopes that he won't upset the locals, as he is not the greatest conversationalist or duelist. And once again, she vaguely wishes to be with him, protecting his gentle, awkward heart from the people of the world. His beasts are the only ones that he can really understand and they in turn, understand him. She just hopes she'll join that crowd one day.

People file in, finding seats and chatting lightly. There is a dark air over everyone, but they all put on smiles to reassure everyone else. Tina swallows, and looks down at her hands. No one comes over to try to speak to her. As the department head, Mr. Graves' replacement, starts the presentation, she wishes that she were anywhere but here. And more secretly, she wishes she weren't still waiting on one Brit to come and take her away.

/

Running the bakery is more difficult than he thought it'd be when he went back to the bank with all those strange silver eggs pieces. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows that these came from someone who cared greatly for the animals who were born from them. However, no matter how much he strains to remember, there's nothing else there to tell him _who_ that person would be. But the bank had accepted them as collateral and now he is happily working away to pay off his loan. Business is booming, and the shop hands, and kitchen assistants he hired work splendidly. He doesn't really have a head for numbers, but somehow everything works out, eventually.

Behind the counter, where he's the smiling face to sell all the bread he baked that morning, he watches the faces of the people who come in, happy that he can make them happy. There is one customer in particular though, a stunning blond woman, that comes into his shop every couple of days. She's never come with another man, though sometimes a pretty brunette comes in with her. But, no matter how pretty the other woman is, Jacob only has eyes for the vision that has a smile that lights up his whole world. She buys something different every time she comes in and he always asks her opinion, giving it a special weight that make her compliments last until she next time she comes around.

To be honest, he's not sure why she comes. He isn't sure why he cares so much. He's not sure where the bite mark turned scar on his neck came from. Actually, there's not a lot he's really sure about recently. But he does know that scar on his neck tingles when she's around, along with the giddy feeling of something he thinks must be the beginnings of love, deep in his gut. He sees the way other people look at her; the jealousy in women's face as the men's eyes undress her mentally. He sees the way she tries to cover up the hurt and knows that underneath her skin, she wants someone to actually look at her mind, not just the outside.

Her smiles are sly and secretive, as if she can read his unasked questions, knows her answers and is waiting for him to figure it all out. Those smiles get him through the day. They're mysterious and giddy and full of promise, almost as magical and fantastical as the beasts that he's made out of his dough. He wants to see those smiles every day from now until he dies.

Honestly though, Jacob really does want to ask her for a date, to ask for her hand in marriage, but he's getting ahead of himself there. Eventually, they'll move on, he's sure. For now, he's mostly content with giving her rolls every few days, slowly building the courage to ask her out, watching her day in and day out.


End file.
